Product Description

Stream on down to Mississippi, the setting of Marcia Gruver's second book in the breathtaking Backwoods Bride series. Reddick "Tiller" McRae is tired of the outlaw life, even more so when he falls for a respectable innkeeper's daughter. Will he face the gallows before he can win her hallowed heart? Maria Bell is tired of waiting for God to bring her a husband and protector. Taking matters of the law and love into her own hands, she sets a trap to catch a thief and a husband. What will she do when she finds out they are one and the same?

Publisher's Description

Stream on down to Mississippi, the setting of Marcia Gruver’s second book in the breathtaking Backwoods Bride series. Reddick “Tiller” McRae is tired of the outlaw life, even more so when he falls for a respectable innkeeper’s daughter. Will he face the gallows before he can win her hallowed heart? Maria Bell is tired of waiting for God to bring her a husband and protector. Taking matters of the law and love into her own hands, she sets a trap to catch a thief and a husband. What will she do when she finds out they are one and the same?

Author Bio

Marcia Gruver’s southern roots lend touches of humor and threads of faith to her writing. Look for both in her Texas Fortunes and Backwoods Brides series. When she’s not perched behind a keyboard, you’ll find her clutching a game system controller or riding shotgun on long drives in the Texas Hill Country. Lifelong Texans, Marcia and her husband Lee have five children. Collectively, this motley crew has graced them with a dozen grandchildren and one great-granddaughter—so far.

I enjoyed Raiders Heart and was delighted to be reunited with some of the characters of that book in Bandit's Hope. I didn't like Tiller in the opening pages. But as learned and loved and grew I learned to appreciate him. I loved Otis Gooch and how he helped Tiller learn to accept Christ's forgiveness. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Reddick MacRae (known as Tiller) left home many years ago with his cousin?, attracted by the drifter lifestyle. He travelled with a band of thieves, but didn't consider himself to be a thief because he was the decoy who â€˜befriended' the potential victim before the others arrive to commit the robbery. After stealing the life savings of an old man, Tiller suddenly develops a conscience and leaves the gang, ending up at the Bell Inn, owned by John Coffee Bell.

Mariah is half-Choctaw Indian, and had promised her dying mother that she will maintain ownership of the Inn that once stood on their tribe's land. She reasons that no one will permit a half-Indian female to maintain ownership of the property, so she must hide her father's death until she can marry. Her initial thought is to "find a husband with a strong back and a feeble mind", but the arrival of Tiller MacRae sends her thoughts in other directions_ Tiller agrees to work for room and board, undertaking some necessary improvements to the Inn, but the arrival of the injured Otis Gooch with his God talk disturbs both Mariah and Tiller as their relationship develops despite their secrets.

Bandit's Hope had an interesting premise and a terrific opening sentence that immediately grabbed me - "Mariah Bell reached the bottom landing, stumbling under the wright of the most precious cross she'd ever had to bear. Balancing her father's lifeless body _" . Unfortunately, the novel went downhill from there, although it did improve towards the end. The writing had occasional flashes of brilliance, the inclusion of the local Indian culture in the plot was original and the characters were well-written and interesting. But overall, while overall Bandit's Hope was a pleasant enough diversion, it was not a compelling read.

A book of forgiveness and mercy. Tiller finds hope while staying at Bell's Inn. Also the man he helped his fried, Nathan, and gang rob shows up at end. Otis is a unique character and in the end Tiller McRae finds forgiveness from him and God. He also makes things right.

Mariah runs the Inn and is trying to keep the secret of her Dad's death so she will not lose the inn and place her Mom and Dad are buried.

I recommend you read Book 1 of the Backwoods Brides first. Then you will see things more clearly throughout the book.

Tiller's Ma starving herself and her son while hiding all money really can happen. I knew a Preacher's wife growing up who hid money all over the house. She was a lot like Tiller's Mom. Her husband had enough to keep him the rest of his life at her death. So this part of story I could relate to first hand.

Mariah did not intend to fall in love with Tiller. She had her plans laid to save her inn. Plans that back fired and left her in a bad place. Tiller and others rescued her.

Mariah saw the true Tiller. I think sometimes people get messed up in things and can change and find true hope.

Marcia Gruver has crafted another masterpiece of a book in Bandit's Hope; a tale of love, forgiveness, greed, and deceit, in 19th century Mississippi. Mariah Bell is a beautiful half Choctaw woman, and owner and proprietess of Bell's Inn, a place that she has promised her deceased mother to never give up. In keeping that promise, Mariah becomes a harborer of a very dark secret, that if revealed, threatens her very relationship with all those she loves. Tiller McRae lands on the doorstep of Bell's Inn in need of shelter for a few days, and Mariah hires him as a handyman to perform long overdue repairs on the inn.

Tiller, a product of an unjust childhood, ran away from home ten years ago with his friend, Nathan, and winds up in more trouble than he can handle; a life of an outlaw and a swindler, but a life that he is tired of and willing to give up for the beautiful Mariah. But if she finds out of his secret past, will she have him?...especially when two very handsome Choctaw Indian braves, and a childhood friend are all vying for Mariah's hand as well? And when a severely injured Otis Gooch is brought to the inn to be nursed back to health, what secret does he hold, that terrifies Tiller to the core, should the elderly man ever regain his memory and reveal it? And who steals Mariah away and why, and will she be rescued before it's too late?

I absolutely loved this tale, with its wonderful characters, twists and turns, and page turning excitement! Marcia Gruver is a master storyteller, who laces her novels with rich Southern humor (I loved Otis Gooch!) to offset the dark times her characters face. With a strong spiritual thread of love and forgiveness throughout, this book is a must read! Although Raider's Heart is the first book in the Backwoods Brides Series, Ms. Gruver does a good job of recapping so that it may be read as a stand alone, although I highly recommend them both. Nicely done!

This book was sent to me by Barbour Publishing and I was not required to give a positive review.

Reddick "Tiller" McRae left his uncles home ten years ago with Nathan Carter. Tiller and Nathan rode with two other fellows in the gang. Tiller's boyish and innocent looks were used to get travelers trust and when their defenses were down, the others would jump in and rob them. On this particular day, with this particular old fellow, Tiller felt a change. It no longer felt right. He tried to get the man to leave but it was too late. The others rode in. And as always Tiller took off like an innocent, only he realized this day that he was as guilty as the rest, maybe more so.

Mariah Coffee Bell just buried her father, only she did not tell anyone he passed. She needed to marry first so she could hold the land. She promised her Choctaw mother that she would hold onto the land, right before her mother died two years ago. She would keep Bell's Inn running. She would marry. She had Miss Vee, Dicey & Rainy to help her continue on. Most people accepted Mariah, others considered her a half breed squaw.

Tiller came to stay at Bell's Inn. While there some men brought in Otis Gooch, the man the gang had attacked. Mariah and Miss Vee had asked him to stay on and fix things up and in return he had free room and board, when he seen Otis he felt his time there was short. Otis was hit hard on the head though and did not remember. So instead Tiller helped care for the older man.

As time passes Tiller starts to care for Mariah and knows he must one day tell of his past. Mariah hurts whenever her father is mentioned. She knows Miss Vee cared for her father and deserves to grieve for him rather than believe he was somewhere else being cared for. They survive a tornado, lack of funds, a kidnapping and even her Uncle Joe who is determined to take her back with him and have her marry the chiefs son, Uncle Joe had been trying to bring her back to the tribe since her mother's death. This book is full of love and adventure.